US embassy cable - 01ABUJA2559

UNCLAS ABUJA 002559 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR TASK FORCE 1 - PD, S/ES, AF/PD, AF/W 
LAGOS FOR CG, POL, PAS 
 
 
E.O. 12598:  N/A 
TAGS: KPAO, OPRC, NI 
SUBJECT:  OVERSEAS REACTION: NIGERIA 
 
REFTEL:  SECSTATE 175484 
 
 
1.  Press reporting of humanitarian actions:  The 
humanitarian actions were reported as straight news in 
Nigerian newspapers on Monday, October 8, quoting 
President Bush, but this news was buried deep in the 
stories that focused on the attacks on Taleban 
targets.  Only one newspaper, the Nigerian Tribune in 
Ibadan, headlined the humanitarian support. 
 
 
2.  Nigerian government support for the U.S.:  A few 
Monday newspapers and most Tuesday newspapers reported 
the Nigerian government's support for the U.S. action 
against against terrorists. It was stated by Tunji 
Oseni, the Senior Special Media Assistant to President 
Obasanjo.  The Kaduna-based, government-owned  ew 
Nigerian, eported on 10/9, for instance,  r. Tunji 
Oseni, Senior Special Media Assistant to the Nigerian 
President reiterates Nigeria  support for actions 
aimed at combating terrorism.  It is in the interest 
of all peoples to make the world a safer place for 
all, especially for civilians who are engaged in their 
normal day-to-day activities. 
 
 
3.  Reactions from local Islamic leaders to attacks on 
Taleban targets:  The Abuja-based independent  aily 
Trust 10/9), reports Nigerians reactions to the 
attacks on Taleban targets: 
 
 
 rom Katsina, former Deputy Senate President, Alhaji 
Mamman Abubakar Dan Musa, yesterday warned the United 
States and her allies of the possibility of 
hostilities escalating further, endangering the 
fragile world peace and security . . . 
 
 
A Katsina-based Islamic scholar, Sheikh Yakubu Musa 
described the attacks on Afghanistan as a ploy by the 
US and her allies to strangulate the Afghan people in 
particular and Islam in general. 
 
 
From Ilorin, the capital of Kwara State, former Grand 
Khadi of the Sharia Court of Appeal, Alhaji Abdulkadir 
Orire criticized the American military action in 
Afghanistan as  nworkable 
 
A University don in the Department of Islamic studies 
in the University of Jos who is also Chief Imam of the 
Fiber Mosque in Jos described the attacks as 
 hocking ince investigations into the September 11 
attacks are still ongoing. 
 
 
Sheikh Uthman bin Uthman, Chairman, Islamic 
Propagation Committee of Kano State said, by its 
military option, America has finally proved to the 
world that its primary objective was not to attack bin 
Laden but Islam. 
 
 
Sheikh Shehu Mai Hula, a Kano-based Islamic scholar 
lambasted Northern Nigerian Muslim governors for not 
organizing support for Afghanistan and bin Laden 
despite their claim of Sharia implementation. 
 
 
4.  Food drops by the U.S.:  In an article headlined 
"US, Britain Attack Afghanistan: Kano Ulama declares 
support for Bin Laden, he Abuja-based independent 
 aily Trust 10/8), reported :   he Chairman of 
Kano State Council of Ulama, Sheikh Umar Ibrahim, has 
criticized the humanitarian drops by the USAF as 
 eceptive   Sheikh Umar told over 5000 Muslims who 
gathered at the Aliyu bin Abi Talib Mosque yesterday 
in Kano that the humanitarian assistance to Afghan 
refugees by the United States is deceptive because 
America created the problem in the first place   He 
stated that Muslims in Afghanistan and, indeed, the 
whole world are not afraid of America  arsenals 
because they are less superior to "laila-ha-illalah" 
(there is no deity worthy of worship save Allah). 
 
 
 
 
JETER